Mountains of rock become grains of sand to be once again welded as rock. The cycle is both perpetual and necessary. Likewise ideas must be broken down periodically into their fundamental elements to be reassembled as sound pillars of guidance and virtue. The cycle of men is like that of sand.

Tuesday, February 28, 2006

Captain's Quarters and Michelle Malkin both report on the intention of a group of American Leftist activists, to storm the United States White House and extricate the duly elected administrators of the Executive Branch - namely President Bush, Vice President Cheney, and the Secretary of Defense, Rumsfeld. The call to arms is posted online at their website, United For Peace And Justice and leaves nothing to doubt regarding the group's objective on March 15, 2006.

U.N. SOS - We need your help to end the reign of international criminals. It is our duty and the duty of the United Nations to rescue the people of the world from the U.S. dictators. Murder for occupation and theft of land is illegal. Murder of journalists is criminal. Remove the traitors who have stolen the U.S. budget and used it to commit international crimes against humanity...

... We are calling on all citizens and governments in every country to stand with us. We are calling on all Member Nations of the U.N.; All Representatives and Justices in the World Court and International Criminal Courts; All Human Rights Advocates; All Soldiers and CIA agents and government officials who have been blackmailed or are in fear of the dictators to join us in ending this reign of corporate terror in our government. The World Criminal Courts need to incarcerate Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld for admitted crimes and known crimes of international scope. The Political Cooperative will put a new, temporary government in place that is comprised of people from Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and all the organizations that have finally made us aware of the truth of the savage practices and illegal policies of our government in assassinating our own officials as well as people throughout the world who oppose their criminal activity. We need all of you to save U.S. victims and global victims from their ongoing criminal activity. We are calling on the military, police, citizens and religious organizations to stand with us and help us to bring democracy back to the United States and by doing so, free the world from the wrath, occupation, theft, torture, blackmail and assassination by the Criminals in the United States Government. What they have done all over the world is much worse than what Saddam Hussein has done, so why are they not in jail too? They have admitted to international and national crimes, so why have they not been taken to Court too?

No doubt, going so far as to subdue the Presidency, the insurgents would also need to target other key Cabinet members, like Rice, Snow, and Gonzales. In fact, in order to disrupt the entire Constitutionally authorized chain of command , they must necessarily subdue or bypass all recognized imperatives governing legitimate leadership of the Republic of the United States of America as stipulated by the the 25th Amendment. It outlines the order of succession as follows:

Contained in the list, are elected members of the Executive Branch and the Legislative Branch, and appointed members of the State Department. These are all the people that must be "incarcerated" by the Army United For Peace and Justice, to effectively eliminate the current Administration. Yet, make no mistake as to the nature of the Left's intent when they call on factions of foreign institutions and governments to assist domestic seditionists to invade America's Capital and overthrow its elected representatives. It is an act of War, pure and simple, perpetrated by an invading insurgency aiding domestic separatists against the United States. And let's be clear, that when the armies of the "Political Cooperative" aim to "put a new, temporary government in place" of an elected one, it is acting against the charters of this Republican and is, unequivocally, initiating criminal aggression against each of the fifty sovereign States. The action and intent is quite clear; a coup d’etat aimed at vanquishing accepted charters defining the existing union in order to subjugate the entire American population to the will and whim of the new “Political Cooperative” of what is being Left. Theirs would be an extralegal body in every respect; un-elected by the people, unrecognized among civilized nations, and manifested only by the violence it can project in it's defense.

Ironically, their illegal puppet regime would establish the actual "reign of international criminals" that those United for Peace and Justice claim to oppose.But then, what is to be made of 'legality' when you are embracing unmitigated tyranny as a means to your ends?. Because the fetid, rotted, stinking, maniacal core of what is being Left has revealed now, in the Spring of 2006, that what is being Left has always been, fascism disguised as a party... ... complete with a ready supply of inebriated stormtroopers.

And we the People of the United States must demand that they be treated accordingly the instant that gathering storms the White House. (edited for clarity 02.28.06:17:25)

Friday, February 24, 2006

Fremont, Washington... Self-proclaimed "Center of the Universe." This hamlet of Seattle sits opposite Interstate 5 from the University district of the University of Washington. Many of that institution's students call Fremont home. And they are quite proud of this statue.

Its a nearly 12 foot tall bronze effigy of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, standing in the middle of the town square.

Last week, our own Major Mike posted regarding the current controversy at the University of Washington. "Show Me A Hero..." Apparently the students of UW have taken a firm stance against a campus Memorial in honor of this particular Alumnus...

The same students who wholeheartedly embrace their proud statue of the infamous Soviet Leader simply cannot stomach a memorial to celebrate a genuine American Hero... one who, at their age, performed tremendous acts of courage and sacrifice on the frontier of chaos in order to protect their liberty to squander his generations' legacy while celebrating the blessings of tyranny.

Thursday, February 23, 2006

Major MikeThe medical community in California is incapable of providing one doctor, nurse. or other licensed professional to administer the death penalty to a convicted killer. Unbelievable.“State officials on Tuesday postponed indefinitely the execution of a condemned killer, saying they would be unable to comply with a judge's order that a medical professional administer the lethal injection.”This, from a state that whose courts have over-ruled a ban on partial birth abortions.It is incomprehensible to me that medical personnel can support the idea of partial birth abortion…

“In the partial birth abortion (D&X) procedure, a physician delivers a baby to the point where only the head remains inside the womb but then punctures the back of the skull and removes the brain before completing delivery. Partial birth abortion (D&X) makes up only 1% of all abortions performed.” (my emphasis)

…yet they get squeamish when it comes to executing a man who plotted the killing of a 17 year-old girl …“Morales was condemned in 1983 for killing 17-year-old Terri Winchell, who was attacked with a hammer, stabbed and left to die half-naked in a vineyard. Morales had plotted the killing with a gay cousin who was jealous of Winchell's relationship with another man.” (my emphasis).Hippocratic hypocrisy.

I am not an anti-abortion nut, but I am opposed to it. And I am certainly sickened by the description of the sanitarily labeled “D&X” procedure, which is just a euphemism for birthing a baby then killing it. But I am even more appalled that those medical “professionals” can carry out this carnage day in and day out, then cannot bring it upon themselves to sedate, and humanely terminate, the life of a murderer.

Our babies deserve life. Our victims deserve justice. Our murderers deserve death. And the medical “profession” in California deserves our scorn. California should go back to the firing squad…there would be no shortage of “professionals,” guns, or bullets.

Wednesday, February 22, 2006

In a unamimous decision Tuesday, the Oregon Supreme Court upheld a voter-approved property rights law. Measure 37 ,as it was called when passed last fall by a strong State majority, requires governments to pay landowners for property value losses caused by regulations, else waive the regulation and let the owner develop the property in their best interest. In its opinion, “The people, in exercising their initiative power, were free to enact Measure 37 in furtherance of policy objectives such as compensating landowners,” wrote Chief Justice Paul DeMuniz.

In October of last year, Marion County Circuit Judge Mary James, claimed Measure 37 violated the state and federal constitutions. She ruled that the Measure strips the Legislature of its power, gives long-time landowners an unfair advantage and fails to give their neighbors a voice in the process.

Otherwise, director Bob Stacey said, this state will mar a landscape protected by three decades of careful planning. His group spearheaded the legal case against Measure 37 but has no plans to appeal the Supreme Court's opinion.

"The court has ruled," Stacey said. "But the people will decide whether this is fair." He said 1000 Friends will determine in the next few weeks whether to pursue a November ballot measure. The group has drafted proposals to prevent Measure 37 development that harms neighbors.

The court decision is expected to be analyzed across the nation by other locales who looked to adopt this State's land use models. Now State and local governments must honor the conditions governing the land purchase, or compensate owners for lost value or damages done by overreaching regulation. Where no money has been set aside in cities, counties and state agencies for such contingencies, the rules must be waived. More than 2,500 applications to develop land controlled by government regulations are awaiting immediate approval.

Tuesday, February 21, 2006

Mr. Morain was game to come on the program, but is fundamentally uninterested in crucial aspects of the story, as well as ignorant of basic facts. Morain believed, for instance, that Reiner was secure in his office for two terms totalling eight years. In fact, Reiner is a hold-over appointee, subject to replacement by Arnold any day Arnold wants him gone (which should be yesterday given reiner's advocacy for Prop 82).

Morain also seemed clueless on basic accounting matters and on the interest level the public would have in the details. His tone will be difficult to capture in thetranscript to be posted at Radioblogger.com later, but the audio will be up as well.

What has happened to the passion and the curiosity? In the word's of L.A. Times Reporter, Dan Morain... "Well, ya know, I'm not sure."Is it any wonder why the Times chose Dan to cover this potential criminal scandal involving Rob Reiner?

Captain Ed reports on Fox News' Chris Wallace interview with Senator Alan Simpson, regarding the Senator's statement to Wallace that the Washington press corps seemed to specialize in "controversy, crap, and confusion". And isn't that so true?!Might we add a few more choice C words, like calamity, convoluted, cynical, capricious, careless...... chaos!

Captain's Quarter's has issued an invitation to submit suggestions for a new logo of the American Press Corp. I suggest that one already exists, albeit in need of a single modification.

Saturday, February 18, 2006

The media only reports the bad news, but American troops are making real progress, securing free elections and defending our country from radical al Qaeda terrorists who want to destroy Americans, starting in Iraq.

Saddam Hussein is one of history's biggest mass murderers. The blood of a million people is on his hands, with countless more raped and tortured.

You'd never know it from the news reports, but our enemy in Iraq is al Qaeda--the same terrorists who killed three thousand Americans on 9/11, the same terrorists from the first World Trade Center bombing, the USS Cole, Madrid, London, and many more. American troops overwhelmingly support the mission President Bush has given us. Where do you want to fight terrorists? We want to fight them, and destroy them, in Iraq.

Powerline reports that the television add currently being run by KARE 11 and WCCO, is sponsored by "Midwest Heroes" as an objective defense of the War in Iraq. And the Left wants them stopped! Silenced! ...Immediately! Local columnists are slamming the adds. And Democrat organizations have launched a campaign to have them pulled (read: censored)

If you feel that this ad is doing a disservice to our troops and is misleading at best, and pure propaganda at worst, please call:

KARE 11 at 763 546 1111

WCCO at 612 370 0611

to ask for the removal of the ads. Letters to the Editor in your local paper would behelpful to point out the untruths being communicated to citizens as fact. Thanks in advance for being a voice of truth, and for all that you do to improve the state of our nation and state.DFL Chair Brian Melendez will be holding a press conference at the State Capitol today at 2:30 to ask that this ad be pulled from the air waves. He willbe joined by congressional candidate and veteran Tim Walz. Please tune in to your evening news to see coverage of this important event.

The gentleman at Powerline are on this story here,here,here, here, and here.That which fears discourse, fears truth. That which fears truth, must see it as a threat. And the only thing threatened by truth, is the tale built on the foundations of a lie. Just what is it that Democrats in Minnesota and across the country actually fear?

Friday, February 17, 2006

Stunningly over blown effort by the media on the Dick Cheney Elmer Fuddesque hunting trip in Texas. While the press was chasing silly Wabbits, they completely missed Google, Yahoo, and Cisco testimony in front of congress. Google “Google Testimony” and none of the top ten results is from an MSM source. I guess intramural hunting accidents should garner more attention than multi-national companies that are kowtowing to communist governments and helping oppressive regimes spy on their citizens…AND, of course, it would be way too much to ask those same companies to support very specific efforts in trying to catch terrorists operating within our own country. I guess hunting Wabbits is more fun, and better for your career, than sniffing out hypocrisies in corporate policies. And bashing aged corporations such as Exxon-Mobil is much more acceptable in the leftie milieu than actually taking hip, up-and-coming companies to task.

Out Fox'd…and Bitter

Good thing that that all of the other networks took the Brit Hume interview with Dick Cheney in stride. Michelle Malkin provides (Fox Derangement Syndrome, Feb 16th) a comprehensive list of the MSM cannibals attempting to feed on Brit Hume and the Fox network.

Geez, why would Orion choose Brit and Fox for this interview? Is it because…the rest of the vultures are feeding on this like Brazilian piranhas, while these are the very same “journalists” that let the Vince Foster episode pass with but an obituary? My message is for the Boards of Directors for those media outlets, less the Corpus Christi Caller-Times, get the clue…you will not get these interviews, and your business will suffer for it, unless and until, you bring balance back to your press rooms. Your partisan and carnivorous coverage of all things conservative WILL be your undoing…not that I’ll mind, but if you do go under, it will really cut down on my need to blog…so keep up the mediocre work.

Lawrence O’Donnell Loses His Mind while Freebasing Cocaine

Sorry, I don’t really have proof of this, but I just thought I’d throw that out there…hoping that other bloggers would look into it. After his complete meltdown on the Hugh Hewitt show, I talked to several lawyers, and they suggested that the most likely cause of this was freebasing cocaine.

“LO: All right. Good. Listen, there's a different standard for posting. This is a posting on the Huffington Post, okay? I had no substantive facts on the matter of the Vice President's sobriety. I would not have written what I wrote in the L.A. Times or the New York Times. I wouldn't do that. But in a post on a website that is a blog, this is exactly the kind of question you're supposed to ask, and you ask those questions so that the media will read that, it'll provoke them to ask the questions, which is exactly what has happened. And yes, for Howie Kurtz, yes, I think assumptions are exactly the standard for website blogs, yes.”(my emphasis)I guess what he doesn’t get, is that his unsupported allegations diminish his credibility going forward. Not only in his online pieces, but in his published pieces as well. Sorry LO…you don’t cut it as a journalist. Supposition does not substitute for fact. The TRUTH still matters. And lightweight intellectuals like you are being exposed everyday via the likes of HH and the blogosphere…adios idioclone, you have just written your way to oblivion.

Cartoon Jihadists Kidnap the Entire US MSM

I am not one to go out of my way to insult anyone’s religion, so I wouldn’t have held a cartoon contest that I would’ve known to be offensive to anyone, particularly hyper-sensitive Muslims. BUT, once the Danish press exercised their rights and printed the cartoons, then it became less about insulting press behavior…which is almost constantly in motion in this country, and more about freedom of the press, and how much say would Muslims have in what is printed in the media all across the world. The Muslims want to dictate to the US press what to print and the press rolled over for them.

I disagree with HH on this one…once the Muslims threatened violence in an attempt to control our press, the issue became a free speech issue, and not an insult issue. It is up to us to protect our rights and support those who would exercise the rights that have been paid for several times over with the blood of our citizens. The MSM has shown themselves to possess the spines of earthworms, as they completely caved into the threats of the Cartoon Jihadists. They are just as much a prisoner to Islamic Fundamentalism and terror, as Jill Carroll. I doubt very much that they would respond to my civilly delivered complaints about my being insulted by the most recent publishing of Abu Ghraib photos, and they would certainly have me arrested as a right-wing nut case, should I show up with a gun threatening their very existence…yet they seem happy to relinquish their rights to threatening Islamofascists that have shown the entire world that they are terrorists and murderers. Nice partnership.

Those that don’t defend their rights, must be prepared to soon live without them. Sissified hypocrites.

Thursday, February 16, 2006

Pressing into the fourth day of the story concerning Dick Cheney's hunting accident, the Mainstream Press remains obsessively focused. Neglecting other news events of this critical time in history, any story that can be spun by the imprudent sycophants of the American Press to 'get Bush' is bled dry at the expense of what new information the people really need to know. Its sometimes appropriately called the 'News.'

In the absence of any pressing news these days -- other than Iran's nuclear weapons development crisis, the election of Hamas terrorists in Palestine, ongoing worldwide Muslim riots and killing in reaction to a cartoon, Al Gore's near sedition while speaking in Saudi Arabia, the turning over of our East Coast ports to be managed by a United Arab Emirates firm, the criminal leaking of vital NSA secrets to the New York Times, Mexican military incursions across our southern border, the Iraqi crisis, Congress's refusal to deal with the developing financial collapse of Social Security and Medicare, inter alia -- the White House press corp has exploded in righteous fury over the question of the vice president's little shooting party last weekend.

Does it occur to anyone on the Left (especially you, David Gregory), that the VP is human? And like anyone in this situation, he is hurting with his own personal guilt and concern for the safety of a friend. And might the President be respecting his VP and friend? This story is not about politics, but about an accident and the life of a friend. The insolent bastards of the Whitehouse Press Corps cannot even bring themselves to visit the humanity of the President and Vice President in this sensitive situation.

For America, however, the truth is that we all have an incident like this in our past to which everyone can relate in some respect... Lawrence O'Donnell's pathologic sense of perfection notwithstanding. Once, I nearly caused a student to bite his own tongue in half during a martial arts demonstration when the kid I was working with made a mistake and stepped into the range of my flying foot. The guilt was mine to own to this very day. But, my first concern was for that student and getting him help. I was subservient to him for months, despite his complete forgiveness. When later I had my arm shattered by another classmate while sparring, when I zigged instead of zagging, I extended the same empathy toward his unearned guilt.

I think Americans can likewise empathize with the VP in this story, and folks like Begala, Milbank, Gregory, Hillary, Reid, and certainly CNN's 'Calamity' Jack Cafferty just sound ridiculous in their implied perfection.

In Hillary’s case, do let's know why it took her husband’s administration so long to report information regarding the suicide of Mr. Foster… or why she wasn't able to find her Rose Lawfirm billing records until after the statute of limitations had expired, else she might consider keeping her mouth shut in this matter lest she sound like an hypocritic jackass.

I should stop. I’m getting angry now… at least I think I’m angry. After listening to Hewitt's interview with the New Republic's, Jonathon Chait on Monday, I’m pretty confused about what I’m feeling. Maybe I’ll call Chait for edification. But, then he wouldn’t be able to explain it either, would he?!

The Presidential Administration is human afterall. They make mistakes, contain emotion, shield guilt, and express regret. We dare not have them be anything but. If this is News, alert the Press! They seemed to know this when President Bill Clinton was shagging interns on a regular basis in the Oval office not 8 years ago.Good Grief!

Wednesday, February 15, 2006

Major MikeWhat makes a hero? What is appropriate recognition for those we consider heroes? Is one man’s hero another man’s heel? Are heroes real, or do the flaws that all men share necessarily reduce our “heroes” to the mere mortal status all of us have at birth? Can the status of hero be earned through achievement, brave or selfless behavior, and sacrifice?Mr. Atos challenged me on this via this Free Republic posting by llevrok. I have been able to verify the comments attributed to UW student leaders here on a resolution proposed by Andrew Everett…

"Jill Edwards questioned whether it was appropriate to honor a person who killed other people. She said she didn’t’ believe a member of the Marine Corps was an example of the sort of person UW wanted to produce."

"Karl Smith amended the first ‘whereas’ clause to strike the section “he was credited with destroying 26 enemy aircraft, tying the record for most aircraft destroyed by a pilot in American Uniform for which he was” andleaving the reference to the Navy Cross. Seconded. Objection.He said the resolution should commend Colonel Boyington’s service, not his killing of others.""Deidre Lockman moved to strike the quote from President Roosevelt.Seconded. Objection. She said the resolution focused more heavily on the negative aspects of war and should instead focus on more positive aspects such as the awarding of the Medal of Honor."

But it does raise the very good questions…what does it take to be a hero? Should such heroes be appropriately recognized? And lastly, should those who have heroically, and unselfishly served this nation be denied such recognition by ill-informed, under-read, self-centered, right consuming, non-serving, collegiate idioclones? (Idioclone – a person who himself intentionally clones himself after an idiot.) Or as Dueler prefers…Ideo-idioclone (Ideo-idioclone…an idioclone who consciously models himself after an ideological idiot).

Either way…those collegiate parrots, granted the luxury of their liberal views via their parent’s checkbooks, should at least read a bit of history before offering an illiterate opinion about a legitimate hero who has selflessly defended those who have earned the right to be called supreme idioclones.

From Merrian-Webster : he·ro1 a: a mythological or legendary figure often of divine descent endowed with great strength or ability b : an illustrious warrior c : a man admired for his achievements and noble qualities d : one that shows great courage

Anyone who has read about Colonel Gregory “Pappy” Boyington, knows that he did not measure up to each of the four possible definitions above. In fact, he gets only 2 of 4 by definition…letters b and d.

But he did volunteer to fly with Claire Chenault with the Flying Tigers in China…heavily outnumbered by the Japanese, and flying against vastly superior aircraft, in an effort to stop the Imperial Japanese Army from occupying all of Asia. He did, after his country was attacked, re-enter the Marine Corps, and achieved recognition as a superior aviator, by amassing over 25 kills in combat…he claimed 28, a number that is disputed in some circles, but a quintuple ace without question. And he spent 20 months in a Japanese prison camp. All of the above was in the defense of others, fighting for freedom, and serving his nation.

He certainly represented the Marine Corps well, and I suggest that there is plenty there for UW to be proud of. Honoring Colonel Boyington would certainly bring no harm to the school. Institutions can be legitimately be linked to the achievements of their alumni, lending both prestige and honor to the programs and processes that nurtured those traits within the most formative years of life.

Greg Boyington, was no angel, but I do think he qualifies as a hero in the truest sense. I think that those of us who couldn’t carry his helmet bag, should get out of the way of the efforts to recognize his heroic action. We should instead read up on his life and come to realize that those that serve for the greater good are all heroes and deserving of recognition, and not deserving of un-researched scorn by academic lightweights.

Perhaps it is best the UW not erect a memorial to Greg Boyington, for it seems it would be more a memorial to a bygone era at UW…a time where they could produce thinkers, freedom lovers, and yes, fighters. It may shame them to view such a memorial, in contrast to what they have on campus today…selfish, shameless brats, who pose as students, but are simply oxygen breathers who stare at books, lap up the drivel that passes for knowledge at today’s colleges, and pretend to get an education from liberal professors who have no idea what it takes to defend a nation, and at times, the free world.

This is, in combination with their China policies, particularly distrubing. Are they a service, an opinion influencing agent, or a governmental censoring agent (when convenient for business purposes and padding the bottom-line)? I think they would be at their best when attempting to provide a non-politicized service. When they act as a censoring agent, then begin to attempt to influence their PR by influencing search results, they become something a bit more sinister...even if they are just a bunch of young, rich, computer geeks. They should be watched and held accountable for their actions...they likely hold more influencing potential than Exxon-Mobil, and deserve far more scrutiny and derision than they are getting for this.

Good points. But, I will tell you something else that is mildly disturbing... as I put together the campaign links on the Blog sideboard for the upcoming 2006 elections, many of the Republican Congressional Campaign websites, although clearly referenced both in the URL and the site titles, do not come up in a search of either Yahoo nor Google. Perhaps, I am being too suspicious. But, knowing what we do about the two most popular digital memory holes, and seeing their ideological leanings expressed by the HITPIECE on Michelle Malkin, might we on the the Right be expected to have legitimate concerns about the internal structure of these 'information' resources.

Like cannibalism, once you taste the forbidden flesh, there is no restriction from further indulging. Yahoo and Google are engaged in memory holeing, filtering, and now thought policing. Why stop with it in China, when they can effect a desired outcome right here in America.

Wednesday, February 08, 2006

On the frontier of decency tonight, the barricades of self-deception are collapsing. The aged illusion of supremacy as man's wicked surrender to feral bigotry crumbles before the visage of primal depravity. Revealed in the chaos of this violent moment is the recollection that virtue is the currency of life, traded among civil men, in the market of common respect where value is earned, not bestowed.

A fundamental recognition of worth had long been concealed behind the barrier and hence forgotten by the sentinels of civilization. Only in its notable absense is it now seen. The truth is that decency is the substance of humanity, defined by action not lip service. And that worthlessness reveals itself through the bankruptcy of esteem, whereby fundamental self-loathing relents to violent self-destruction.

Supremacy in the mores of Man, we recall, is defined by the recognition that liberty is superior to tyranny... the tyranny of governments, kleptocracies, thugs or mobs.

At the beginning of this so-called 'Row,' as the talking-point-addicted media has it labelled, I lent a certain degree of empathy to Islam. The juvenile reprobates of European delinquency had violated the frontiers of decency, yet again. Only this time, ignoring their preferred doormats of Christendom, they wiped their feet on the cherished linens of Islam... heretofore sacred as a protectorate of the templars of progressive multicultural hypocrisy. Mohammed had joined the 'Piss-Christ' among the filth of modern degenerate nihilism and the vaccuum of propriety that envelops it. The Muslims were not pleased.

And they were right to be offended. Offended!

Liberty affords freedom of expression of unimagineable variety. Tolerance is however the burden of all who enjoy it. Liberty does not afterall, provide protection from offense inherent to its mandate. That is why decency is a prerequisite of human interaction. Mutual respect is the mechanism by which men earn trust and lend good will. Liberty is not license to defecate on another's sensibilities figuratively nor in fact.

Just because you can do a thing, does not mean you should. Here I agreed with Hugh Hewitt,

[The items] were in bad taste, an unnecessary affront to many of the 1.3 billion Muslims in the world, just as Joel Stein affronted the military, the families and friends of the military, and as Toles did the same to the wounded, and their families, friends and admirers. Of course each of them had the absolute right to publish their screed, and the Danish (and now Norwegian) governments must reply to demands that these papers be punished with a steely refusal to be dictated to as to their culture of free expression and the protection of the vulgar and the stupid.

But don't cheer the vulgar and the stupid.

Indeed. Decency begets respect. That being said, this issue has now transcended the boorishness of European adolescence. Offense has given way to violence, and blood is being shed over the issue of... ...a cartoon?!It was a series of cartoons,in fact. Originally appearing back in September of last year in Denmark's Jyllands-Posten, the toons caricaturing Mohammed have resurfaced four months later as part of a tuned propaganda campaign... another artillery barrage of mis-information directed through the nation of Islam at the West, as Austin Bay notes today...

Four months after their publication, however, we witness waves of orchestrated, coordinated violence -- war and information war directed at the West but also designed to deflect domestic challenges to Middle Eastern dictatorships. Vicious anti-Muslim cartoons -- not published by the Danes -- now circulate with the originals (suggesting a calculated act of propaganda designed to further inflame). Syria's secular dictatorship made cynical use of the cartoons. Mobs burned the Danish and Norwegian embassies in Damascus. The attacks would not be possible without the tacit permission or connivance of the Syrian government. At the moment, Syria faces U.N. censure for its role in the murder of Lebanon's Rafik Harari. across the Arab a little more than a week ago, tempting reciprocal obstinance from the whole of Europe and subsequent reprinting of the toons across Europe and the blogosphere. Boycotts ensued. Threats were unleashed. Danish flags replaced Old Glory as the favored fuse of Islamic furor staged for audiences around the world, complete with the usual banners... written in English.

Thomas Lifson elaborates on this point in "The cartoon crisis conspiracy." Fred Siegel also draws out the stakes to similar effect in "Dropping the veil." Siegel writes: To read the New York Times or listen to intimidated European politicians you might think that the current angry demonstrations calling for death to the cartoonists were spontaneous eruption of anger. The demonstration in reaction to the cartoons in September of last year may have been spontaneous. But the campaign in the last two weeks to bully tiny Denmark has been funded by the Saudis and other Arab governments.

Riots ensued, threats flowed, and the Danish flag replaced Old Glory as the favored fuse of Islamic furor in convenient supply at every location, along with gasoline and matches. Europeans reciprocated with their own brand of honed obstinance by reprinting the original cartoons and more, in various newspapers across the Continent. The provocative graphics subsequently spread throughout the blogosphere. And Islamic anger swelled before the world's cameras complete with repugnant banners, conveniently printed in English. The rhetoric and the violence intensified.

Embassies in Syria and Lebanon have since been burned to the ground over this issue in the name of the religion of peace. Coalition troops in Afghanistan have been attack, purportedly by the same people they are liberating. Over the weekend, Italian Catholic priest Andrea Santoro was murdered by a Muslim teen who claimed he was influenced by cartoons lampooning the Prophet Mohammad. Children of Islam have become both victim and criminal. Looking at the images of Muslim youth and their slogans, is there any question as to the nature of influence the elders of Islam are providing their progeny? Theirs is truly a legacy of inferiority among Men - worthless as an asset and liable in their barbaric fury.Cleary, a new front has evolved for the fanatic opportunists of Islam, seeking to spawn global armageddon on behalf of their collective psychosis, manipulating an entire culture to their ends. Yet such is the nature of human liberty that frees each to act according to one's will, and to the limits of their ethical imperatives until such time as they clash with another's. The initiation of force being abhorent to Men of esteem, no one may be compelled to submit to another's will or whim. Self determination is a fundamental imperative of human existence. And the love of self is in fact, the only mechanism of genuine Humanism. Therefore, any people who submit individually or collectively to manipulation for the purpose of tyrannical oppression demonstrate a malevolent degree of worthlessness and inferiority that precludes tolerance of any sort. The offense hurled upon Muslims by the denigration of their cherished sensibilities at the hands of moronic juveniles pales now and in comparison to the atrocities inflicted on humanity by the irrational fury of the estranged savages that amusingly claim affiliation. The requisites of Mankind beg more than bipedal locomotion and the ability to abuse the promethian gift.

It should be noted that the fanatic fringe of the Islamic world is not unique in its manner of inferiority. Soviet Russia like Fascist Germany established a modern historic model of institutional depravity. Communist China, North Korea and Cuba, and the criminal abominations of The Sudan, Somalia, and Zimbabwee are deserved of little more than similar rancorous scorn. Even the Socialist States of Europe share a comparable degree of worthlessness in many respects. It is quite ironic, indeed, to see the Leftists of Europe stand now in defiance of collective compulsion when they have themselves indulged a similar mob insanity directed toward the United States for the last four years... even under the influence of the same propagandists puppeteers they now resist. Capitalism in fact, has been the subject of their misdirected rage for decades, propelled by a specious ideological agenda every bit as vitriolic as that of fanatic Islam, albeit better concealed.

Indeed, we see that even the political Left in America is little different in this respect than the fanatic hordes of manipulated rage. Beyond the frontiers of decency, they cannot resist making a disgusting mockery of a funeral for the wife of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Overlooking Coretta Scott King's life of service to liberty, opportunists fanatics like the former President Jimmy Carter play on the moment to spit the venom of his own self-loathing upon another guest and President, manipulating mobs of sneering and jeering reprobates to ignite a conflagration before the cameras. Like the Wellstone Memorial of 2002, the lunatic fringe of Leftist polity, in absense of all manner of propriety, found a way to turn another funeral into an orgy of ideological idiocy right before our eyes. They, the purported champions of tolerance cannot rise abovetheir own hatred and bigotry for a momentary celebration of unity at the passing of a champion of heroic perserverance and human dignity.

Superiority is not a product of race, creed, nor religion. It is not a condition of birth bestowed inconsequentially on individuals and cultures by manifest of destiny. It is secured and maintained by the manner of values respected by peoples and the integrity with which they adhere to that respective philosophy. And it is the responsibility of each and every individual to uphold that virtue accordingly. In her latest contribution at National Review Online, Claudia Rosett makes the point...

If statehood, citizenship, and civilization itself are to mean anything, we are all in the end accountable for our own actions. When people riot and brutalize and burn, there are individuals in the crowds who are responsible. And in the places where this is happening, if the governments will not call these individuals to account, we need to hold those governments themselves responsible. Cartoons alone, to quote another line from Hamlet, are in a class with nothing more than “words, words, words,” and those are grounds on which newspapers, nations, and religions may have their disagreements and their dialogues. But when violence enters the picture, that is a matter for governments to settle, and in the free world the job of government and politicians is not to opine upon cartoons, but to lay down the law that no one may with impunity threaten our liberty and lives.

At least with respect to legitimate Democracies, those governments are the people. In fact no other government is morally legitimate. So ultimately the people of any nation must resist continued incursions beyond the frontiers of decency. The West faces an incredible struggle both now and in the years to come. And in order to prevail, we must first recognize our fundamental right to exist. We must re-learn to celebrate the superior nature of life... our lives. And we must refuse to allow the surrender of our virtue to indecency expressed in any form, be it figuratively or physically.

Monday, February 06, 2006

Major MikeRandom thoughts on the Crazy Cartooning of Mohammed (Praised be His Holy Excuseness for Wonton Violence)Wretchard has provided the most food for thought.

“Yet the cartoon crisis has been cruelest to radical Islam because it has upset the timetable for the slow demographic conquest of Europe. It forced the crisis before the time was ripe to win an outright trial of strength. And it has deranged the carefully crafted plan to hold Europe politically neutral while the Islamists concentrated their force on their most dangerous enemy, the United States. Unless the Islamists can reverse or at least pause the process of confrontation it will find itself engaged on two fronts, against Europe and the United States simultaneously.”

Particularly insightful. The Islamosfascists have been accidentally and prematurely “outed” by those radical and pesky Danes. Our press has routinely blamed our culture and our policies as the cause of all previous attacks on western civilization. We have stolen their oil, invaded them a thousand years ago, we have not worn burkas out of respect for their culture…all heinous crimes by us against the ultra-sensitive cultural requirements of murderers. But now, via those clever Danes, we can clearly understand that their ultimate goal is to dominate western culture and values. They want their religion, beliefs, and culture, to have extraordinary status in the west as compared to those of us with other beliefs. Their threatening and violent response to a modest parody of their “benevolent prophet,” has revealed them (for the thousandth time) as the non-thinking time bombs of radical despots masquerading as Imams or leaders of state. The Danes have forced their desires for dominate cultural status into the open. It is important that we define this as the main issue (it IS), and stand our ground…further acquiescence to their demands is tantamount to paying ransom for a tenuous peace that will ultimately be broken by them at the time we would be in a position to lose this battle. They have been forced to fire outside of lethal range…we must recognize this, and react to protect our freedoms accordingly.

I agree with her multiple re-printings of the cartoon. By re-printing the cartoons, she clearly presents the ridiculousness of the violence that has followed compared to the “insult”, and strikes a strong blow for freedom of the press. A blow not struck by our MSM. Our press has gone along with Muslim demands for extra-ordinary status by showing an undue level of “respect” for the murderers who hide behind Islam, and there-by abdicated their rights to thugs. Nice work…they do this while thousands of our troops are trying to defend those rights abroad. I am amazed at their gutless refusal to defend their (hard won, by military men) right to a free press. They are caving in to the armed threats of masked men hiding behind religion. Would they do the same for armed men in white masks and sheets? Not likely. They need to find the courage to stand up to forces that will deny them their right to publish freely…for if this goes on too long, that right will be lost.

Scan his archives for his “A Decent Respect to the Opinions of Mankind.” (February 3, 2006) I agree with Hugh when he calls for all to respect the opinions of mankind, but I disagree with him when he tacitly urges that our press not re-publish the cartoons.

“But I think the third course between the cartoonist provocateurs and the radicals waving guns at the EU employees in Gaza is to denounce without ambiguity or excuse the latter but at the same time to delineate a very bright line between what the West stands for and the churlishness of the cartoonist provocateurs.”

Sorry, Hugh, we have shown them that brilliant delineation hundreds of times… liberating Kuwait, tsunami relief to hundreds of thousands of Muslims, unfettered religious freedom in our country…they don’t get it, because they don’t want to get it…see Wretchard above. They are violent, because they want to be violent. They see no good in the west or western culture, and they are intolerant of both. They have made it clear, time and again, that they prefer bullets to words, oppression to freedom, and death to change. A nice chat about western culture will do little to dissuade them.

An aside here…who would do that marking? A gay American? A fundamentalist Christian? A catholic? A Jew? All (and zillions of others) are very much a part of the west and its culture, but who has the right to draw “that” line? The beauty of free societies is that all have a say, but none have standing above the next. Clearly this concept is not understood by the Islamacists, as they seek a preeminent position, via press concessions, for their culture and their customs. Ridiculous. Living in the real world requires tolerance and compromise…two words I have yet to hear from the lips of noted Imams. I have seen a lot of guns though.

We are in a war for our culutre and our freedoms, and the failure to recognize this before some cataclysmic event will cement our doom. Accommodation and appeasement will not work with their culture. I am not advocationg a war on their culture, but I am advocating a vigorous defense of ours.

Some editorializing, cut from a string of emails flying amongst the Sandmen last week...from me...

"In all honesty…I have come to expect less and less from those (the press and hollywood elite) who take their freedoms for granted. I think that those like me who have served, take some pride in knowing that they are performing a task that few could do, and fewer would recognize the true value of their service…kind of like the pride you might take in mailing in an anonymous donation."

"It shocks me more that the spineless hypocrites in the press kowtow so easily to the rash elements in Islam, and supposedly do so “out of respect,” when the truth is, that they are too cowardly to either physically defend or exercise their freedoms when their rights are even modestly threatened. It seems they leave that up to better men. Their lack of courage in the face of those that would deny them their livelihood, defines them as the cowards that we all know that they are. Next to follow will be the self-righteous, falsely courageous, chest thumping once they perceive the physical threat subsides. Overall the US press’ refusal to push the envelope with the Islamofacists, proves they are in bed together. Do you suppose that in all fairness that they will, from here on out, not depict our acknowledged images of Jesus and God in unflattering ways? Not on your life. They have let bullies deprive them of their lunch money, and they don’t even have the courage to say “yo mama” as those that took aim at their livelihood were walking away."

Wake up...the Islamofascists were waging a covert war until the cultural grenade went off last week. The real sleeper cells were the millions of Muslims waiting for popultion shifts to become great enough to reach "tipping points" all across ther globe. Their violent reaction to what cannot be avoided in western societies...offending, or being offended by someone...smoked them out before that tipping point could be reached. Defend your freedoms...they have been paid for with the blood of men far better than I.

Wednesday, February 01, 2006

Major MikeI read with astonishment today David Sarashon’s commentary on the furor over James Frey fictional accounts of his life as told in his “non-fiction” work A Million Little Pieces. Mr. Sarashon glosses over the many misrepresentations that Mr. Frey used to sell his book, and justifies these lies with:

Memory, after all, is not a Xerox machine; it's something we build around ourselves to explain our lives. Naturally, as time passes, it gets a little more interesting, or useful, than the life itself was.

As Dickens wrote, we all want to be the hero of our own lives. And we all know that legends tend to build up around heroes.

So it's strange to hear an argument about whether Frey's book should be in fiction or nonfiction. Probably all memoirs should be in a separate category, drawn from the legal-disclaimer slogan of so many TV movies: "Based on a true story."

I wanted the stories in the book to ebb and flow, to have dramatic arcs, to have the tension that all great stories require," writes Frey, whose three-page note will be included in future editions of the book, to be shipped later this month,and was posted Wednesday on the Web site of his publisher, Doubleday, an imprint of Random House, Inc.

Never mind that Frey greatly exaggerated the tales of his “addictions” and “travails.” He slanders various law enforcement agencies with his claims of improper treatment and abuse. From CNN…

Frey's note, itself a story of suffering and redemption, confirms much of what The Smoking Gun published in early January and builds upon his admission to Winfrey last week that he had lied: He invented a three-month jail term, exaggerated other run-ins with law officials and distorted his role in a train crash that killed a high school classmate. He also acknowledges making himself appear "tougher and more daring and more aggressive than in reality I was, or I am."

I can live with all that…I simply won’t buy his lame “wannabe” book. Too bad he will reap the rewards of his lies, but that is the by-product of a consumer world populated with those willing to empathize and co-miserate with the zillions of sad souls with zillions of sad stories. Good for him…his money will evaporate as quickly as his credibility. He will likely end up penniless and a prisoner to his former addictions. He should take good notes this time, because that will be the story worth reading.

But that is not my point. What got to me was Sarashon’s ready excuse making for these falsehoods.

When we arrange our memoirs, or just our memory, at least we want to tell ourselves a good story.

Dishonesty is the lie we tell other people.

Memory is the lie we tell ourselves.

What I see here is the extension of the Rathergate illogic, after the documents were found to be forgeries…”well, just because we can’t prove it, doesn’t mean it’s not true.”

Well, truth is the point. Not the great nature of the story. Not the possibilities. Not the excitement generated. Not the “dramatic arcs, to have that all great stories requires.” Not total book sales, but the truth is what makes the story.

And it disturbs me greatly that a “journalist” would go out of his way to make excuses for a literary liar. Sarashon should be appalled that a writer of any piece would categorically lie about events sold as true. He should not be lending support, as he seems to be lowering journalistic standards to below those set for children’s books.

The capper for me is his line below…

And it's not like there's no difference between outright dishonesty and carefully arranged memory.

No, there is NO difference. Try getting away with that dissection with your fourteen year-old. The truth is the truth, no matter how poorly told or received. A lie is a lie, no matter how well it is told and how much it is believed. It is up to journalists to know this as the bedrock of their profession. It is frightening that Sarashon is claiming the gap between the truth and a lie is meaningless…I guess as long as your book (or your paper?) sells, it is inconsequential.

So, I guess there is no reason to believe that anything that comes out of the Oregonian is true…as long as the story is good. He shows a pathetic lack of understanding of the value that the truth holds in all journalistic endeavors…especially when the written word is advertised as the “truth.”